Not Seeing the People for the Forest Thalland's Program of Reforestation by Forced Eviction

Abstract

Thailand's Royal Forestry Department (RFD) and the Royal Thai Army are planning to evict or redistribute the land holdings of over ten million people from the country's NationalForest Reserves to enable Thai and foreign corporations to lease land for fast-growing tree plantations, mostly of Eucalyptus camaldulensis. These plantationswillbe leased and planted under the auspices of the National Forest Policy as commercial reforestation and harvested to provide raw material for the country's pulp and paper industry. The main obstacle to the RFD's plans for 30 000 square kilometres of eucalyptus plantations is opposition from over one million farming families living in village communities located inside the reserves.' Khor Jor KorI2 as the eviction program is known in Thailand, is a response to the national forest policy ... [whereby] forests in the country will be saved and expanded, according to Major General Vim01 Wattanavanit, the Army's Deputy Supreme Commandera3 The 1985 National Forest Policy mandates the conservation of natural forest covering twenty-five percent of Thailand's land area and commercial reforestation by the private sector and state agencies to establish economic forests of fast-growing tree crops covering fifteen percent of the country. Village leaders from all regions of Thailand are opposing the Forestry Department's plans for eucalyptus plantations and Khor Jor Kor. According to Buddhist monk Pra Paisa1 Wisalo, an advocate of forest conservation: